RIO DE JANEIRO -- Olympic medals are what happen when youre making other plans. Just ask Maya DiRado, who completed a walk-off grand slam Friday night with one last windmill stroke to beat Hungarys Katinka Hosszu by a touch for the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke.DiRados line in her final box score: A perfect 4-for-4 with medals in each race she entered. Her meet was a success before she jumped into the water and tucked for the start. It was impressive enough that shed collected a silver in the 400 individual medley, a bronze in the 200 IM, and helped win the 800 freestyle relay -- her first relay final in a major international meet -- by keeping pace with her Australian counterpart in the third leg.Thought clearly preceded action for DiRado, who is retiring while she is ahead and will start a job with a management consulting firm next month. But her mind went blank as she fought to gain on Hosszu in the last few meters of Fridays race. DiRado felt her tempo slowing and her legs seizing up.In the practice pool area, newly-minted 100 freestyle gold medalist Simone Manuel, who trains with DiRado at Stanford University, paused in her preparations for the 50 free semifinals to pogo up and down, briefly losing her voice.That wasnt a problem inside the Olympic Aquatic Stadium where the decibel level spiked at the sight of DiRado pulling even.I heard the crowd getting louder and louder and louder, so I knew we were neck-and-neck, DiRado said. Then I hit the wall and looked up. It took me a little bit to process it, and then I looked at the blocks and saw the one dot (light). I dont know, its still hitting me. She paused, her throat constricted with emotion.DiRado didnt just reach for the wall. She whacked it, breaking a fingernail, a fitting metaphor for a race that was decided by .06 seconds.In an era when so many Olympic swimmers are prolonging their careers, wrestling with the ideal time to exit and understandably often changing their minds, the most striking thing about DiRado over the last few weeks has been her absolute and entirely believable conviction that shes right to leave the sport behind at age 23.She swam with controlled abandon at the U.S. Olympic trials and won three events. Once in Rio, DiRado continued to confirm her intentions after each success. Rather than draining her, talking about the end in sight seemed to carve weight from her shoulder blades. She gave off the settled air of someone who had fully explored the edges of her own envelope.Friday, DiRado noted each little last thing about her pre-race ritual with proper competitive grief and cried as she wrote her parents a thank-you note.Who doesnt want to end an important phase of life on the right note? The beauty of DiRados attitude was that she appeared to be willing to accept that note could be a sharp or a flat as long as she kept her own rhythm.DiRado said shell give one of her medals to her parents and leave one behind at Stanford University, where coaches Greg Meehan and Tracy Duchac encouraged her to be flexible about her plans as she kept surprising herself with her improvement.Im sort of at a loss, said Meehan, who is in Rio as a U.S. team assistant. It was the perfect race to end the perfect meet, and to have that be the last race of her life, are you kidding me? You couldnt script it any better.He anticipated what was next. Wouldnt it be tempting to see how much better she could get? Meehan was shaking his head before the breath was out of the question.No, he said, his eyes welling. I will miss her. Coaching her has been perhaps the greatest single privilege in my professional career and I will miss the relationship with her, the partnership, but no way. Not after that. You walk away and you just enjoy. LaDainian Tomlinson Womens Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Easton Stick Chargers Jersey . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. 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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho confirmed last month that the London club had made an official cash bid for Rooney. The England international has been pushing for a move since expressing his frustration to United about his lack of playing time toward the end of last season. But botth Alex Ferguson and David Moyes, who succeeded his fellow Scot as manager in May, have insisted Rooney is not for sale since he has two years left on his contract.dddddddddddd United also said that Rooney would not travel to Sweden for a pre-season match against AIK in Stockholm on Tuesday after injuring his right shoulder during another friendly. "Wayne hurt his shoulder in a fall during a match on Saturday," Moyes said. "Its not too serious and I dont expect it to keep him out for too long. Im disappointed hes missing the game because we were keen to get him back involved and ready to play." ' ' '
